Brad Friedel has moved to quash claims of a rift between himself and his fellow Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris by insisting any rivalry with the former Lyon No1 is a "friendly and healthy" one.

Lloris, the France captain, joined Tottenham on the final day of the transfer window for £12m and was expected to take over from Friedel at White Hart Lane immediately. But the 41-year-old American has kept his place after putting in a string of assured displays – the most recent of which came in Sunday's 3-1 win at Reading – and has enjoyed the backing of the new manager, André Villas-Boas, who has stated that he will not be changing goalkeepers any time soon.

"Hugo has come in and is a really nice person," Friedel told Talksport. "He's a super goalkeeper but we have two other really good goalkeepers in Heurelho Gomes and Carlo Cudicini. We have friendly and healthy competition for places. Hopefully we will have long runs in all the cup competitions and there's going to be plenty of matches to share around."

Lloris is reportedly unhappy at being second choice to Friedel – he was an unused substitute against Reading in what was his first match as a Spurs player – but, speaking to L'Equipe, he said that he is expecting to make his debut for the club soon. "I am in an adaptation period, I've had very few training sessions and there are players that I didn't know," said the 25-year-old. "But I am expecting time on the pitch."

Gareth Bale, meanwhile, has backed Spurs to challenge for a Champions League place having now recorded their first victory of the season.

Last season under Harry Redknapp Spurs lost two of the first three matches but managed to turn their season around to finish fourth, and were denied a place in the Champions League qualifying round only by Chelsea's victory over Bayern Munich in the final.

The start to this season under Villas-Boas has not been much better – they lost to Newcastle on the opening day and followed that up with draws against West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City – but, with the experience of last year, the Welshman is confident they can qualify this season.

"With the not-so-great start we had, we're in a similar position [to last year] and, as we've also been there [before], there's no reason why we can't do it this year," said Bale. "We'll be going out there to win every game and hopefully we can do that."

Prior to the win over Reading, a win which Bale described as "massively important", Villas-Boas had come under pressure, with some reports suggesting the former Chelsea and Porto manager's job was in jeopardy. But Bale has been quick to support the Portuguese, saying Villas-Boas is "here to build a team" and that both the manager and the players need time to adapt to the type of football he wants them to produce.

"It's a new way of playing for us compared to last season. It does take time," Bale added. "Everybody should understand that it takes time and I think there has been an improvement in every game and you've seen that [against Reading]. I think everybody just has to be patient. Things will come and it'll start to click like it did on Sunday, and hopefully we can push on from there."

Bale, who signed a new contract during the summer which could keep him at the club until 2016, also moved to end rumours that he had considered leaving the club for a move abroad. "I've always been focused on my game, playing football, and I'm enjoying myself here at the moment. So there's no reason to go anywhere," he said.

"I'm enjoying my football, we've got a great squad now and hopefully next season we can get Champions League football, where we should be. The plan is to kick on. We just have to go out now and execute it."